Magic in the Moonlight
by Ninja Potter
Summary: Lily Potter's life isn't perfect. Her parents are struggling right now, no one is around at home anymore, and she feels like everything's wrong. One night, she just explodes. But she never expected what would happen in the garden afterwards.


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A/N: I'm writing this one-shot for the Great Prompt Challenge in the Harry Potter Fanfiction Challenges Forum.

This story is un-betaed.

Prompts; jasmine, empty  
Fairy Tale; The Little Mermaid  
Pairing; Lily Luna and Scorpius

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Outside, the sun had set and the nocturnal animals were coming out to look for food. Everything was running its natural course until the back door to the Potter's house was flown wide open.

Lily Potter ran out of the house, despite her mother's yells to get back inside. She ignored her mom's shouts and continued running through the empty darkness, tears beginning to well up in her eyes. Animals silently retreated to hiding places as she passed them.

Almost blind with unshed tears, Lily ran into her mother's garden. Once she was in the far corner of the well tended garden, she plopped down on the soil and began to freely cry. Ashamed, she buried her face in her knees.

"You okay?" An unexpected voice asked. Lily sat up quickly. It was Al's best friend, Scorpius Malfoy, who was staying with the Potter's for a week in the summer.

"Go away." Lily screamed as she started to wipe her tears from her cheeks. Scorpius came a little closer, a worried look on his face. He came and sat next to Lily, how turned away from him to hide her tears.

"What happened?" Scorpius asked after awhile.

"Didn't you hear? It's not like we were whispering or anything." Lily choked out as a fresh wave of tears swept over her.

"I had to go find one of my Quidditch gloves before the animals got to it." He showed his found glove to prove his point.

"Oh." Lily felt glad that he hadn't heard her family scream at each other. Scorpius just stared at her, willing her to continue.

"Well, I had to go back downstairs to get my book, The Little Mermaid, so I could read it before I went to bed and I heard them shouting. So I sat by the door, outside of the kitchen. Mum was screaming something about Dad always working late and not seeing us enough. Then Dad shouted that she didn't trust him and then she said she didn't. It sorta snowballed after that." Lily wiped away more tears with her sleeve as she told her story.

Scorpius gave Lily a look that said he knew how she felt.

"So after a while, Mum said that Dad could just leave and that's when I had to interrupt. I starting screaming at them that they were stupid and that I hate them. That's when I ran out the door and into the garden." Lily hiccuped as she ended her story.

"So what's up with this garden?" Scorpius changed the subject to calm down Lily.

"Mom started it with our Aunt Luna. Well, she's not techically my real aunt but she's close enough. Anyways, Mum loved how Aunt Luna could grow anything so she insisted that Luna show her how to grow something. And this is the result." Lily waved her hand at the well-tended rows of plants and flowers.

"It's pretty good." Scorpius complimented.

"Yeah. It's kind of the place where everyone likes to sit by themselves. Doesn't it feel like the plants are protecting you or something?" Lily pointed out the strange aura of the garden.

Scorpius glanced below him at the small flower plants such as jasmine and pansies. They seemed to be lighting up the dark ground, as if they were helping you watch where you step. Then there was the high garden walls that were overgrown with ivy and another vines. It felt like they were on guard duty, watching for intruders.

"Yeah..." Scorpius said breathlessly, just beginning to see the actually magic about the garden.

They sat in a silence for awhile. It wasn't an uncomfortable silence though. It was more like they were just both being quiet so they could feel the magic at work.

"Thank you." Lily broke the silence. Scorpius opened his eyes though he hadn't realised he had shut them. He looked over at Lily and gave her a small smile.

"Welcome." Scorpius said softly. Just then, the full moon broke out from behind a cloud and Lily's face was lit up with the soft white moonlight. Scorpius couldn't help but realise just how beautiful she was.

_No. Stop it. She's only eleven. And Al's sister. _Scorpius tried to shake the thoughts from his head.

At the same moment Lily was thinking, _God, what kind of guy would sit out with his best friend's little sister at night just because she was crying? Not any type of guy I know of, that's for sure. I'm kind of liking this new type._

Lily yawned just then, realising how tired she was.

"Wow. It's getting late." Lily stated the obvious. Though they didn't admit it, neither of them wanted to leave but they both hid their feelings.

"Ok." Scorpius said, a hint of sadness in his voice but he quickly hid it with a smile.

As they walked back, Scorpius's mind wandered.

_She's only eleven. She's just a kid. She's like a sister to me. Nothing more. _Scorpius tried to convince himself.

When they snuck back inside, they managed to avoid Lily's parents and when they were a the point where she would continue on to her room, they both turned to each other and smiled a shy smile and then went their own ways.

And that's how it would have to be, Scorpius thought as he entered Al's room. He would hide behind his smile and do nothing.

Because Al's friendship was more important than a silly crush.

Scorpius sighed as he climbed into the bed Mr. Potter had magiked up for him. He thought he would be up all night thinking about this but as soon as his head touched the pillow, he was asleep, dreaming about jasmine and the full moon.

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**The ending has been revised, in case you didn't notice. Thanks for reading!**

**Ninja**


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